X10 program hangs, doesn't send

Forum 2005-2010 (read only) Hardware Interfacing
1

Hey all,

So I just bought a PSC05 transmitter and a lamp module, hoping to X10-ify a few things around the apartment, and I got it hooked up as described in the X10 library, double checked against the PSC05 docs, but I can't get any of the examples to work. For example, the Blink sketch is supposed to send House A lights on, then lights off. The sketch never makes it to lights off (watching the serial output) and has no effect on the lamp module.

Would I be correct in assuming that the library is not receiving the zero crossing signal, and thus not sending any data? I checked all the wires, and I did get it to turn on ONCE, but that was about it. Any suggestions? Thanks

2

I got it hooked up as described in the X10 library, double checked against the PSC05 docs,

The diagram for the PL513/TW513 in the lib page is not the same as what you need for the PSC05. In fact it just seems to be wrong. So you need . . .

  1. Zero crossing
  2. Gnd
  3. Rcve X-10
  4. Xmit X-l0
    Double check it again. Also you probably shouldn't ground Pin 3 (Rcve) as is shown for the (xmit only) PL513.

It's "gotta be" in the hookup :wink: I use PSC05 with that lib and code I wrote that receives. There is an example here.
Does the led on the PSC05 flash when you try to transmit?

3

Yep, thats exactly how I have it hooked up. Tried tying receive to gnd, tried leaving it floating, tried different pins, no winks at all from the transmitter. I don't know if I'm supposed to be getting any voltage from the zero crossing detect pin, but it doesn't appear to be sending any. Thanks for the quick reply.

4

Both the Zero Crossing and Receive outputs are "low active" and should use the internal pullup resistors. Maybe that's it.

5

Hi, I'm using the PSC05 with the x10 library and doesn't work. I check the pinout and I can't found whats wrong. Any help? :-[

6

I had the same problems with the PSC05. After much experimentation, my PSC05 pinout turned out to be the issue and was different from any other pinout I found. It is:

1 Yellow ZC
2 Green Receive (I have only xmitted, so this is presumed; i let it float)
3 Red Ground
4 Black Data Xmit

7

Hmmm That's strange - see Reply #1.
I don't mean to argue with success, but I question your definition of pins 2 & 3 - I think they should be reversed.
See page 7 of this -
http://www.x10pro.com/pro/pdf/technote.pdf

Some of the confusion may have to do with the fact that most phone cables "flip" the wires on one connector. Hold the two ends together (as if you were going to plug them in) to see what I mean. One connector will be BRGY the other YGRB.) So if you use both RJ11 connectors on the cable, you have to account for this.

This fact also makes going by wire color misleading. If you just cut one of these cables, the color depends on what end you plug into the PSC05.

Using the diagram above, or in the link to the manual, you should have:

  1. Zero crossing (BLK or YEL)
  2. Gnd (RED or GRN)
  3. Rcve X-10 (GRN or RED)
  4. Xmit X-l0 (YEL or BLK)

Perhaps your setup is working because you don't use receive - I'm not sure. However pin 2 of the PSC05 should be ground (GRN in your case.)

What happens if you try pin 2 for ground now that you have it working?

I really doubt that they would make different models with different pinouts. That would be a real mess - even for X10.

I didn't intend to put so much time into this, but it may be useful for others.

8

Grounding either pin 2 or pin 3 and floating the other works for sending data. Based on your reply, I went ahead and tested receiving, and you are correct: pin 2 is ground and pin 3 is receive. Thanks for your efforts in this regard.